More card readers will be installed at the exits of Brussels metro stations by 2020 in an effort to fight back against fare evasion, public transport company STIB announced.
The initiative, implemented since last year, has seen 49 metro and pre-metro stations outfitted with card readers at the exit, Cindy Arents, spokesperson for the company, said, according to BX1.
According to Arents, an additional 20 stations would be equipped with the card readers in the months to come, including Louise, Rogier, or Sainte-Catherine.
Three stations, Clémenceau, Délacroix and Gare Centrale, where there are currently no exit gates at all, will be dealt with at a later time, she added.
The measure was adopted as a way to crack down on free-riders in the metro network, who the company said represent losses of several million euros, after it estimated that 5 to 10% of users were travelling without a valid transport ticket.
The installation of the so-called "check-in and check-out" card readers will be done progressively and is expected to last until 2020, Arents said.
"We are going by stages, starting out with the stations which need no, or little works for the installation," adding that the installations of the readers would be included works being already carried out in some stations, such as De Brouckère.
Gabriela Galindo
The Brussels Times
